HTC One X+ unveiled

The Week in Tech: Microsoft’s Xbox Music to debut soon and some FB stats trivia for you

The Week in Tech: Plus Microsoft’s Xbox Music to debut soon and some FB stats trivia for you

TheX-Factor

HTC's venerable Android flagship, the One X, has just been bumped off the pedestal by its shiny new successor – the One X+. When launched earlier this year, the One X was quite simply the best Android device in the market. With Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Note 2, HTC have given the One X a mighty spec bump by slipping in a new 1.7 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip, increasing the storage to colossal 64GB, improving battery life and loading it up with the latest 4.1 Jelly Bean OS. The One X+ will be on Indian shelves this November. If you're content with the current One X, then the upcoming 4.1 Jelly Bean update will tide you over just fine.

Marching to its own beat

Microsoft first debuted its Xbox Music at E3 – the gaming expo – earlier this year, and now it appears to be the time when they launch their music service for real. Xbox Music is believed to be an ad-supported free music service, much like Spotify. The soon-to-be-released freemium service will also offer users the option to do away with ads for a small monthly sum. It is believed that the service will first make it to the Xbox, Windows Phone, and then to third-party apps on iOS and Android at a later date. The rumour mill is also convinced that Microsoft is ready to roll out a Microsoft-built smartphone in the coming months, surely to the chagrin of HTC and Nokia. Look out for the release on Windows 8 and Xbox Music on October 26th.

Good things come in small packages?

Apple has been dousing fires (read: iOS Maps) and squashing bugs (read: iOS 6), but it might have a big announcement about something small for later this month. The Wall Street Journal has started reporting that Apple's suppliers have begun mass production of a smaller tablet LCD that measures 7.85-inches. The yet-to-be-announced device has already, and logically so, been dubbed the iPad Mini which analysts believe could be made public later this month. It's widely believed that the iPad Mini will go head-to-head with the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire on pricing and specs.

Facebook Trivia

Facebook is considering charging users – stop fretting – to promote posts. A minimal fee paid to the coffers of the Zuck would mean your post about your fantastic breakfast will feature on the top of your all of your friends news feeds. This might be a good thing if you plan to start promoting serious stuff. Zuckerberg also announced that this month Facebook has now touched over one billion active users every month. That's one in every seven people. Some more Facebook trivia below: